5-30-03 - Warfield San Francisco, CA

please review the show, not the other reviews....

Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2003 00:11:38 -0400
From: Frank Zeccola frankismolloy@hotmail.com
Subject: SF Warfield review: 5/30/03

Set I: Money Love and Change, Plasma, Magilla, Push On Til the Day, Flock of 
Words, Sidewalks of San Francisco, Drifting, Olivia, At the Gazebo, Last 
Tube
Set II: Curlew's Call, Tube Top Wobble, Alive Again, Pebbles and Marbles, 
Small Axe, The Inlaw Josie Wales, Secret Smile, Spices, Dazed and Confused
Encore: Sweet and Dandy


The Hiatus is justified!

Only my thrid TAB show since the now-obselete Hiatus, but this was the 
absolute BEST I have ever seen them.  Even a crazier, happier feeling than 
seeing the James Brown of psychedellic music for the first time at Holmdel 
in July 2001 and looking over at my brother and both of us sadly saying 
"Phish is never coming back, but at least we got to see the end of a 
legacy."  Luckily we were wrong, and this show promises amazing things when 
the legacy continues on summer tour.  Show highlights were many and intense. 
  The banging, soulful chords of Money Love and Change sparked things off 
and jammed out for more than 15 minutes, a treat considering both times I 
had seen this song before I might as well have been listening to the album.  
Magilla was incredible.  A straight-up jazz song with horns: this is the way 
this song is meant to be played.  Very Ellington-esque.  Push on Til the Day 
was straightforward, but I can't help but getting lifted sky high when the 
chromatic build-up peaks and Trey's signature wail comes screeching through 
the mix tying everything together.  Dead on.  Nailed it as usual.  A VERY 
trippy Last Tube closed out the first set, complete with swirling flutes, 
drooping and diving organs and wacky horn riffs.  This band is capable of so 
many things and I'm glad this is the side project Trey stuck with.

In the second set, I knew something special was coming after Alive Again.  I 
heard the opening notes of a song I knew well but couldn't exactly put my 
finger on and as I became aware that this was Pebbles and Marbles I started 
jumping around and celebrating.  Although the song doesn't come off as well 
as it could on the album, I always liked it and was so very happy to hear 
it.  And everything came together perfectly.  The rise and fall of the 
builds in the beginning instrumental section, the pauses before each verse, 
the rush as the choruses peak, the ambient jam: everything was perfect.  
Round Room was going for a certain idea, and the idea was achieved in this 
Pebbles.  I can't wait to hear the new and improved Phish play this song.

A few songs later, the band left the stage and Trey grabbed the acoustic.  
At first I wasn't too happy about this and figured he was trying to hog some 
Trey alone time, but when I heard the song, this beautiful song that I had 
never heard before but sounded strangely like a Tom Marshall composition, I 
was extremely satisfied.  Secret Smile is a lovely new song all about 
crochetting the ocean breezes and turning the ocean to red wine, beautiful.  
I was literally sitting on a beach in the Greek Islands savoring a glass of 
red wine.

And then the speech.  It rarely happens, but I always love a Trey speech.  
This one was great because he wasn't nervous at all and wasn't stumbling 
over his words.  He pretty much explained that he had played the next song 
he was going to play, a new song called Spices, at the Roseland and people 
on Phantasy Tour.com had torn the song apart and said it was "just a bunch 
of chords."  So he continued saying that Spices, like Pebbles and Marbles 
and like Guyute and other great songs, started with Tom and Trey playing
acoustic guitars and gradually built up to the epic songs that they have 
come to be.  So he told us to listen to Spices with the idea in mind that 
eventually it would evolve and turn into a Guyute-type song.  Truly a great 
glance into the Trey-Tom songwriting procedure.  Beautiful.  He explained 
that most of Round Room is still in the works and that what we hear on the 
album is very raw because it was recorded in three days, but he promised 
that everything is coming together.  Then he promised us that he wouldn't 
play Spices again until Phish came to the Shoreline in July, at which point 
I turned to my girlfriend and said "were getting tickets to both nights as 
soon as we get home."  So he played Spices, and you really could envision 
this great epic song, even with just the acoustic guitar and man, I can't 
wait til Shoreline.  Phish is gonna nail this tune.  The new Phish I think 
will be better than we have ever seen them.  For two-plus years I've been 
waiting around, and before this show I have wanted nothing more than to see 
the Hiatus justified, and now I can say it:  the Hiatus is justified.

The rest of the band came back after Spices, and Jennifer sang Dazed and 
Confused, wailing in a bluesy, down home voice and Trey nailed all the 
guitar riffs dead on.  Incredible.  Great closer.

The reggae bop of Sweet and Dandy was a good, happy encore and the band 
walking into the crowd with tambourines, ala Ozzomotley (?) was fun to see.  
Over all a great show, great performance, like I said, best I've ever seen 
the TAB.  And I thought I'd never say it  but I think the Hiatus is 
justified.  We'll see what happens in July.


Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2003 13:25:26 -0600
From: j m jmoutray@hotmail.com
Subject: review tab warfield 5/30/3

let me get this out of the way right now, there was A LOT of talking drunks on the floor this
night.  given the love fom the trey bank sound, this was easy to ignore.  one of the highlights
was the 1st song, money, love & change...  heard this a couple of times this tour and
they've changed the sound on this song from last tour and it's real good.  reaching
grooves holding them there for extended periods of time is what this tour seems to be
about.  plasma has developed in a very listenable song, as had weak moments in the past, but the
spacey fluid jams have made it an enjoyable song. moving ahead to the driftin' (still in the 1st
set), this song has sentimental value (you know who you are), was well placed and well played. 
ok, now the highlight of the night, last tube...   beautiful extended jams that kept me from even
knowing (or caring) what my body was doing during the song, as we got down on the floor of the
warfield.  sick, sick, sick....  2nd set wasn't the danceable grooves i was looking for, but
that's not always what trey band is about.  good solid show all and all. and trey's troomp through
the audience, up the whole floor of the warfiled, hugging and dancing with crowd at the end of the
show, reminded me of the intimacy that you get only with TAB.


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